London is set for more transport turmoil this month after unions called a fresh round of two 24-hour strikes in the bitter dispute over the Night Tube services.
Three unions have confirmed already that they will stage walkouts from 1830 on Tuesday 25 August until 1829 on Wednesday 26 August, then again on 1830 on Thursday 27 August until 1829 on Friday 28 August.
Members of Unite and the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) and Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA) unions will be involved in the industrial action, while the union Aslef, which was involved in the previous strike this month, is expected to give its position tomorrow.
There are worrying signs the dispute is getting more not less intractable as the RMT appears to have widened the negotiations from the issue of Night Tube working hours to include the mayor’s ticket office closure and voluntary redundancy programme under his Fit for the Future strategy.
Transport for London (TfL) has claimed the union is now calling for the ‘rehiring hundreds of staff for back office jobs that Oyster, contactless payment and other modernisation mean no longer need to be performed’.
It also claimed RMT is demanding a ‘32 hour, 4 day week and no Night Tube duties, even though LU staff are already employed on 24-hour contracts’.
RMT was not available for comment at the time of writing. In a statement yesterday RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: ‘Staff are angry that their grievances are being ignored and dismissed by both the mayor and his officials and that there has been no substantial move as of today from London Underground to make progress towards a negotiated settlement.
‘That is why we have no option but to strike again. It is ridiculous that the job cuts programme for fleet, engineering and station staff is also still being bulldozed through against this background.’
Union sources assert the dispute is still about work life balance as a result of Night Tube services, claiming that TfL has failed to put its guarantees on paper.
In a statement TfL said: ‘No one will be asked to work more hours than they do today, everybody remains entitled to two days off in seven, and annual leave entitlements are unchanged – 43 days for drivers and 52 days for station staff.
‘New rosters were never going to be ‘imposed’ – we shared them with staff for consultation and so they can see for themselves how the Night Tube will affect them. Staff will still be able to swap shifts around so that they can work at the times which best suit them.’
It added that after hiring 500 extra staff it could ‘guarantee that drivers will work the same, or less, weekends than they do now and, after a short transition period, they will have a choice about whether they work Night Tube shifts or not’.
The Night Tube is scheduled to run for two days a week, on Friday and Saturday nights, and on five of our eleven Tube lines – the Jubilee, Piccadilly, Central, Northern and Victoria lines from 12 September.
However mayor of London Boris Johnson has now suggested that the start date could be moved.
